114 Conservation Reader 



trees out of the way, a few acres of them now would be a 

 fortune. 



There are parts of our country, particularly in the South 

 and West, where the settlers are still cutting the trees to 

 get them out of their way. In distant mountain valleys 

 where there is no market for lumber, men are chopping 

 down the great pines. They would make fine lumber, 

 for they are tall and straight, but instead of being put to 

 some useful end their fate is the bonfire. It makes no 

 difference to these men that they are wasting what it has 

 taken Nature hundreds of years to produce nor, that in 

 other parts of the country timber is scarce and expensive. 



In Germany and Switzerland the forest resources are 

 carefully looked after. As fast as the grown trees are cut 

 from a field, young trees are planted in their places. The 

 keeping of a certain part of the land in forest is held to be 

 of advantage to all the people. For this reason men are 

 not allowed to cut trees upon their own land without per- 

 mission from the forest ofiicer. 



Many years ago, when lumbering became an important 

 industry and the mills began to turn out immense quanti- 

 ties of boards and beams of every sort needed by the grow- 

 ing population of our new country, it was beUeved that the 

 supply would never be used up. Only the best and clearest 

 logs were sawed into lumber, and a large part of each tree 

 was left on the ground to rot or to feed the first fire that 

 occurred. Now lumber is scarce and expensive; and the 

 poorer grades also are in much demand. 



Have you ever seen the giant sugar pines on the slopes 

 of the Western mountains ? Next to the sequoias they are 

 the largest of our American trees. A single tree has fur- 



